


Butterfly On A Wheel

by MsRockLobster (sweetcarolanne)



Category: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
Genre: Angst, Apes & Monkeys, Attempted Murder, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Claiming Bites, Grief/Mourning, Gun Violence, M/M, Memories, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rough Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 18:36:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7372975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetcarolanne/pseuds/MsRockLobster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When love becomes like torture, the unthinkable becomes the only course of action...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Butterfly On A Wheel

Whether dreaming or awake, the color that seemed to constantly cloud Koba’s vision now was red. The deep, sticky red of blood – his own, and that of other apes. Memories of needles and restraints, electric shocks and sharp steel blades, for so long dormant in his mind, resurfaced unbidden and unwanted like a sickness.

Rage consumed Koba from within, the kind of dark, slow-burning anger he had not felt for many years. Hatred of the humans who had tortured him, hatred of every human who had ever walked the earth, made him seethe and grind his teeth, snarling silently. He remembered how his body had ached all over from the brutal beating he had endured when Caesar flew at him in fury, after Koba accused his leader of loving humans more than apes, more than he loved his own sons.

So incensed was Caesar that Koba had actually feared for his life. And Caesar had proved, by his actions, the truth of Koba’s words, including the reproach that Koba had not dared to speak aloud.

_Caesar loved humans more than his Koba!_

Of course, Caesar had attempted to make things right with Koba. After forgiving the bonobo, he had later tried to reclaim Koba’s love, the passion and the devotion that Koba had once freely offered to his leader. And for a while, Koba was able to lose himself in ecstasy, in the exhilaration of the coupling that was as glorious and intense as their very first. 

Koba had howled in exquisite agony at the force of Caesar’s bites into his neck, bites vicious enough to leave the marks of ownership that Koba was formerly proud to bear. Caesar’s thrusts inside Koba had filled him with a pain so rapturous that no other sensation could ever compare with it. And after the ferocity of the rutting, there was infinite tenderness as Caesar rocked Koba against him and traced the outlines of the bonobo’s scars with trembling fingers.

The leader of the apes seemed to be struggling to choke back sobs as he repeated his beloved’s name, over and over again. His breathing was ragged, and his eyes were blurred with what could have been tears of regret or remorse. 

It was as if Caesar somehow realized that this would be his last time with Koba, though of course he could never have known.

Koba had clung to Caesar, seeking the comfort and warmth of his leader’s body, but within his thoughts the rage still burned. He despised the weakness he was beginning to perceive in Caesar, and in himself for adoring someone who he now saw as unfit to be in charge.

If the world was to be rid of the scourge that was humankind, Koba would have to lead. And to do so, he knew that he must sacrifice the most precious thing that he possessed – that most beautiful of connections that had been formed in the gentle haze of springtime, when the air had been filled with the scent of flowers and the bright wings of butterflies. 

No more sweetness would be Koba’s, not ever. No more blissful nights held closely in the strength of Caesar’s arms. A part of him would always love Caesar, but the pathway that Koba now saw stretching out before him was the only one he could possibly take. Confinement in a cage as a broken, pathetic prisoner, fading to a shadow of his former self, was not an option for the one that Koba had so revered and desired. 

No, that must never happen. Koba could never be so cruel. Caesar deserved a better and far more merciful fate. Others would suffer in this degrading way at Koba’s hands, but not the one who had reawakened all that Koba once believed was forever lost!

Caesar’s ending would come swiftly, Koba had decided. And he would make sure that the blame was squarely laid at the feet of those who deserved it most. It was, in truth, the humans who were taking Caesar from him. And Koba would make sure that they paid dearly, not only for the tortures they had physically inflicted on him in the past, but for the loss of his one great love.

He would look Caesar in the eye at the finish, his gaze revealing a warrior’s fortitude, a steely resolve. He would show his fitness to lead with a ruthless efficiency, and no pleading look in his lover’s eyes could ever deter him from his grisly task.

Koba did not know how much his heart would break when he finally raised the gun.

**Author's Note:**

> This short piece ended up being darker and angstier than I intended, but I will be doing a longer and happier one in the future for these two. They deserve it, after all!
> 
> Many thanks to my beta who wishes to remain anonymous, and who still loves me despite being weirded out by this! <3


End file.
